Putin to Extend Lease on Kyrgyz Base, Settle Debt During Visit

By Ilya Arkhipov -
Sep 19, 2012

President Vladimir Putin will use
tomorrow’s trip to Kyrgyzstan to extend the lease on a Russian
military base in the country and settle the central Asian
nation’s debt, according to Putin’s foreign-policy aide.

A protocol prolonging the stay until 2017 will be signed,
with another agreement allowing Russia to keep its base in
Kyrgyzstan for at least 15 more years after 2017, Yuri Ushakov
told reporters in Moscow yesterday. The accord will set out the
rent and terms of use for the facility, according to Ushakov.

Russia also plans to settle Kyrgyzstan’s $488 million debt,
said Ushakov, a former ambassador to the U.S. He declined to
provide details describing the debt deal. Russia’s government
has previously said it was prepared to consider “alternative”
ways of debt repayment.

Landlocked Kyrgyzstan is the only country in the world that
hosts both Russian and U.S. military bases. In 2009 it decided
to evict the U.S. from its Manas air base after receiving a $2
billion aid package from Russia. Kyrgyzstan’s government
reversed the decision later that year when the U.S. raised the
rent to $60 million $17.4 million a year from to keep the
facility, which it uses to supply troops in Afghanistan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited the Kyrgyz
capital of Bishkek in March and spoke with local officials about
extending use of the air base after the current agreement
expires in July 2014. Kyrgyzstan insists the facility should be
turned into a civilian or commercial enterprise after 2014.